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Introduction

The electronic archive of Alexander Erich Kohts (1880—1964)
includes documents of the founder and the first director of the State Darwin Museum in Moscow.

The archive can be divided into three groups: autobiographical
and personal documents, working materials of the State Darwin Museum and methodological
as well as museological articles.

The personal archive of Alexander Kohts includes letters and postcards
(late 19th - early 20th centuries), photos, abstracts of scientific papers and lectures,
journals and drafts.

The State Darwin Museum was established under the auspices
of the Moscow Higher Women's Courses (currently Moscow State Pedagogical University).
The museum occupied a very small area for many years. Alexander Kohts spent his entire life
struggling for a building for the State Darwin Museum. The working materials include
correspondence with different organizations and establishments, documents related
to gathering of collections and the history of the museum, bills, invoices, materials about
employees. Dreaming of a mass museum which would be accessible to everyone, Alexander Kohts wrote
methodological articles expressing his vision of such a museum, ideas of working with visitors and
creating expositions. The history of over a hundred years old museum is closely connected to the
complicated history of Russia in the 20th century. During the Great Patriotic War, difficult postwar years,
long years of devastation and repressions, Alexander Kohts managed to protect not only the museum’s
collections, but also a large number of invaluable documents.

We continued the legacy of Alexander Kohts in hopes of this archive
being useful to everyone interested in the history of science and museology in Russia.

Please put a link to the archive if you use the materials.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions: dspacesdm@googlegroups.com